Covid-19 drives growth at Microsoft as cloud business benefits from home working January 26, 2021 Revenue was up at Microsoft in its second quarter, with the pandemic accelerating the company’s switch to cloud-based computing. Microsoft beat Wall Street estimates for revenue growth from Azure, it’s cloud computing service, as the software giant continued to benefit from a global shift to working and learning from home. The company’s shares, which gained about [...]
Xbox Series X: A powerhouse machine with bags of potential December 18, 2020 There was a time when the launch of a new games console represented a gigantic leap forward – when gamers could expect to see and play titles in ways they hadn’t even conceived. The jump from Nintendo’s SNES to the N64, for instance, ushered in the era of 3D gaming, changing the course of the [...]
Microsoft beats revenue forecasts on cloud computing growth October 27, 2020 Microsoft posted a rise in revenue for the first quarter as the ongoing shift to home working helped drive up demand for its cloud computing services. Microsoft reported revenue of $37.2bn (£28.5bn) for the three months to the end of September, up 12 per cent on the same period last year and ahead of analysts’ [...]
Microsoft boss warns against rapid transition to working from home October 6, 2020 Microsoft’s chief executive has warned against the total transition to working from home during the pandemic, saying it would be “replacing one dogma with another dogma”. Satya Nadella, who has served at the helm of Microsoft since 2014, said it was “best not to get overly dogmatic” about where employees can work, despite the world’s [...]
Microsoft to train up 25m people with digital skills in wake of coronavirus crisis June 30, 2020 About 25m workers are set to get free online training in digital skills from Microsoft, as the computer giant bids to give the ailing global economy a boost amid the coronavirus pandemic. The training, which will be available to workers around the world, is designed to teach skills that Microsoft says people need to get [...]
Judge pauses Microsoft’s $10bn Pentagon contract in Amazon lawsuit February 13, 2020 A US judge has temporarily blocked Microsoft’s $10bn (£7.66bn) Pentagon cloud computing contract, in response to a lawsuit filed by Amazon. Judge Patricia E. Campbell-Smith issued the injunction but did not release her written opinion. Amazon Web Services has been told to earmark $42m to pay for costs and damages in the event that today’s [...]
Big tech’s calls for more regulation offers them a chance to increase their power January 28, 2020 At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, “tech for good” was one of the key themes on the agenda. The big tech companies like Microsoft and Google used their airtime to call for more regulation, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). It’s a broad term that applies to a set of [...]
Microsoft pledges to go ‘carbon negative’ by 2030 January 16, 2020 Microsoft will go “carbon negative” by 2030, senior executives announced today, as the tech giant looks to take responsibility for its emissions footprint. The commitment means mean that Microsoft will cuts its emissions by half, whilst simultaneously removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits anually, resulting in a net emissions total of less [...]
Microsoft overhauls cloud contracts amid EU data privacy crackdown November 18, 2019 Microsoft has unveiled changes to its commercial cloud contracts after EU regulators warned the company may be breaching data privacy laws. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) last month said it had “serious concerns” about Microsoft’s compliance with data protection rules and the use of its services by EU institutions. Read more: Amazon to appeal [...]
Amazon to appeal Pentagon decision to award Microsoft $10bn cloud contract November 15, 2019 Amazon will appeal the US department of defense’s decision to award Microsoft a major cloud contract. Amazon, which already provides cloud computing for the Central Intelligence Agency, had been favourites to win the contract worth $10bn over 10 years. Read more: Nike pulls clothes and shoes from Amazon amid digital push The company has now [...]